


Daily Lives of Little Busters

by Rincchi (Kyarorain)



Category: Little Busters!
Genre: Gen, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1919325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyarorain/pseuds/Rincchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shot fics focusing on the day to day lives of the Little Busters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost

"Didn't we see that tree ten minutes ago?"

"Fue? Are you sure? They all look the same to me."

Rin nodded. "It's got those funny crooked branches."

"But, are you sure it's not just another tree with funny crooked branches?"

"Hmm." Rin gazed at the tree pensively, then shook her head. "Ugh, I don't know. Why are there so many trees? I'm so sick of trees."

"I know what we could do!" Kud held up a finger. "Let's find something to tie around the branch and mark the tree, then we'll know if we see it again." She cast her eyes around and spotted a plastic bag. "Aha!"

"That's a good idea," said Komari. "That way we'll know for sure."

Ten minutes later, they found themselves looking at the same tree with the plastic bag. There was no doubt about the dire situation they had found themselves in.

"We're just going in circles." Kud seemed distressed. "Are we lost?"

"Don't worry!" Komari forced a big smile. "We'll just take a different path next." She started off and then stopped. "Er, does anybody remember which way we went last time?"

"We went right," Rin said in a decisive tone. "I think."

"Are you sure?" Kud asked.

"Um. It could have been left." Rin's face fell. "Maybe. I'm not sure. Sorry."

"Aaaaaah!" Komari's knees hit the ground and she clutched her head. "We're lost!"

"We're lost?!" Kud's eyes widened in alarm. "What are we going to do? Are we going to have to build campfires and hunt for meat? Will it be like in that book, uh, what was it called? Road of the Flies?"

"I think you mean Lord of the Flies. Hyaaau, isn't that the book where people ate each other?"

"Th-they did?" Kud's mouth gaped open. She pressed her fingers together. "Oh dear. I really don't want to be eaten, but if we end up starving then..." After contemplating it, she nodded. "I do not mind being the first sacrifice! If it's for my friends, I will gladly offer up my body."

"No, no, I don't want to eat you, Kuu-chan!"

Rin quietly listened to the entire conversation with a look of disbelief. She took out her cellphone and checked the display. There was still no signal. "That idiot brother. What was he thinking sending us on a mission in a place like this?"

"It's all my fault." Kud dropped to the ground. "If I hadn't let go of that map, it wouldn't have blown away."

"Ehh? No, no, that was my fault," Komari protested. "You let go of it because I screamed and startled you. So, that means I should be the one who is eaten first." She clenched her fists with a determined look on her face.

"I wish Riki was here," Rin muttered. Komari and Kud seemed to have completely lost their wits. If Riki was present, he would surely have some retort at the ready to quell their panic. It looked like it was going to have to be up to her to calm them down. "It's alright. We don't have to eat each other."

Komari and Kud regarded her with confused looks.

"Fue? We don't?"

"Really?"

"Yeah." Rin gestured at the backpack she was carrying. It was stuffed full of snacks and cakes that Komari had provided. "We have food."

"Aaaahhh! That's right!" Komari ran over and wrapped her arms around Rin. Rin's face turned red. "I totally forgot. Thank you, Rin-chan, you're a lifesaver."

"Wafu!" Kud bounced over to hug her as well. "Rin-san is awesome."

"Hey, it's not like I did anything amazing," Rin protested, her cheeks flushing even more.

"Well then, let's eat some yummy cake." Komari took the backpack and started humming as she rummaged in it. "Sweet things always cheer me up."

The three of them sat down and helped themselves to cake. They devoured it in no time at all. It turned out that walking through the woods had really given them an appetite.

"Hmm."

"Huh? What is it, Kuu-chan?"

"Well, the cake was nice, but we're still lost."

"Oh, yeah." Komari's smile faded away and she sighed. "What are we going to do? It's so scary, being lost in the woods. Rin-chan, are you scared?"

A chime rang out as Rin shook her head. "No. I know everyone else is going to find us eventually so there's no need to worry."

"Whoah. Rin-san is so confident, I can't help but believe her words."

"Well then, if Rin-chan's not scared, then I'm not scared either. Alright!" Komari nodded, a smile forming on her face. "So, what should we do now? Should we look for them?"

"But walking is so tiring." Kud sighed. "We're just going in circles too."

"Why don't we just wait here?" Rin suggested. "They are bound to come across us eventually."

"Right, we'll do that," said Komari. "Hmm." After thinking for a bit, she spoke again. "Then, let's pass the time by telling stories. I'll start. There was a bear who lived in a forest..."

A short while later, they heard voices calling out their names. The girls called back and the other members of the Little Busters soon appeared.

"There you are!" Riki exclaimed. "We were wondering what had happened to you. Are you alright?"

"We lost the map and then we became lost," said Komari. "Then we were walking around in circles so we had to give up and eat cake instead."

"I was so scared," said Kud. "Being lost is super scary. Wah?!"

"It's alright now, Kudryavka-kun." Kurugaya had darted over to wrap her arms around Kud's small body. She rubbed her head in a reassuring manner. "There's no need to be scared now that Onee-san is here."

"So that's what happened. Sounds like you had quite some excitement," Kyousuke said.

"Don't send us out on such dangerous missions!" Rin berated him with a look of sheer indignance. "Thanks to you, Komari-chan and Kud were going to eat each other!"

A sudden silence fell over them all. Several pairs of eyes slowly looked toward Komari and Kud.

"These two?" Masato looked doubtful. "Seriously?"

"What were they doing, having a fight to the death?" Kengo asked. "I can't see that happening."

"Eh, for real?" Haruka cringed. "Why would you do that?"

"Cannibalism is a crime," Mio said. "Please don't eat each other."

"Ueeeeehn, it wasn't like that!" Komari's shrill voice rang out. Her face crumpled. "I wouldn't ever eat anybody!"

"Me neither," Kud said. "I'd never do such a terrible thing."

"Rin, are you sure you didn't just get the wrong idea?" Riki asked.

"Well, they were worried about starving and having to eat each other. They were really freaking out so I had to remind them we had food." Rin placed her hands on her hips and beamed. "I saved their lives."

"No, I'm pretty sure their lives weren't in danger to begin with."

Kyousuke cleared his throat, smiling with an air of nervousness. "Well, now that we're all together again, shall we get going?"


	2. Dagger

It was private study time and everyone was expected to quietly study at their desks. Most people were at least. His neighbour, on the other hand, was fast asleep as usual.

"Honestly, Masato, you've got to study sometime," Riki muttered. His gaze wandered over the rest of the classroom and settled on Kud, who appeared to be reciting from a book. Mio had brought her chair over and was listening attentively. It was an unusual scene in the classroom so naturally his curiosity was provoked. Snatches of dialogue reached his ear as he walked over.

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand. Come, let me clutch... the?"

"That's 'thee'," Mio said. "It means 'you', by the way."

"Oh, really?" Kud tilted her head, her brow furrowing. "There are a lot of words in here that I don't know."

"What are you reading, Kud?"

"Huh? Oh, Riki. Nishizono-san's helping me out with my English. I'm reading lines from, um, what was it called?" Kud paused to check the cover. "Maku... vest?"

"You mean Macbeth, don't you?"

Kud's face promptly turned crimson. "Wafu?! I mispronounced the name of the main character. Even though I already heard it a few times. I'm so terrible at this." A dark cloud seemed to fall over her as she crouched over her desk and pressed her head to the wood. She started gently hitting her forehead against the surface. "I'm so confused because of all these difficult words and it's making my head spin."

"Don't worry about it, Noumi-san. Would you like me to read the passage for you?"

"O-okay... this Shakefear guy's writing is really hard to read."

Riki decided against correcting Kud this time. He did however wonder what on earth Mio was thinking, having Kud read Shakespeare of all things.

"Well then." Mio took the book and started to recite the words. "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" Her voice grew ominous. "Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation-"

"Uwaaaaahn!" Komari's wail floated over. "Mio-chan is scaryyy!"

"Uuu." Kud crouched over in her seat, her small body shaking. "It's too scary, I want to read something else. No wonder he's called Shakefear."

"Oh? Is this not to your taste?" Mio shut the book, regarding her with a quizzical expression. "Well, it's understandable that it wouldn't be to your liking-"

"If you know that already, don't make me read it!"

"But, you see, it only gets worse after this." Mio's voice lowered and a shadow fell over her face. "He ends up murdering the king in his sleep. His wife helps with covering up the crime too."

Kud let out a yelp. Another wail was heard from Komari. Riki glanced over to see her covering her ears. It looked like she was pretty close to tears too.

"No matter how much the wife washes her hands, she can still see the blood on them, and it drives her to insanity, and finally, suicide."

"Nishizono-san." Riki wondered if Mio was aware of how much she was traumatising the girls. If she was doing it on purpose, that sure was awfully sadistic of her. "I think that's enough now."

"Hey, cut it out, you're upsetting Komari-chan!"

Rin's shout went unheeded by Mio, who carried on speaking.

"He commits murder after murder, even of his own best friend, until he gets defeated by a man not born of a woman." Mio's lips curved up into a smile and she raised her head. "Ahh, MPreg."

Kud was doing the same thing as Komari now, and didn't seem to hear her last comment.

Riki raised an eyebrow. "MPreg?"

"Well, actually, he was born by caesarean, but I find it fun to interpret the phrase in different ways. Anyway, the matter of how he was born doesn't change the fact he was still carried by a woman in the womb. I find the claim of not being born by a woman a bit odd."

"I see what you mean. Anyway, I think you need to take your audience into consideration when you're reading things. Why Shakespeare? That's surely too difficult for Kud."

"Yes, it is. In fact, it's not uncommon for native English speakers to hate it, and even call it gibberish. That's not surprising really, considering it's an antiquated form of English."

"Whaaaa?" Kud clutched at her head. "That's way, way, way too difficult for me!"

"Sorry, I thought I'd test you a bit but it seems it was too much." Mio took another book from the bag sitting by her chair. "How about Goldilock and the Three Bears?"

"Ah?" Komari had been whimpering with her head in her arms until now but the mention of that particular fairy tale seemed to have piqued her interest. "I know that story! I want to hear it!" She scampered over with a delighted expression.

"Now it's a children's fairytale?" Riki wondered why Mio even had a book like that on her in the first place. "Well, do your best, Kud." With those words, he left them to it and returned to his desk.


	3. Hair

"Let me go, you jerk!" Rin's shrill scream rang out across the field. She wriggled in the tight grasp around her waist.

"Haha, you are so adorable." Kurugaya rubbed her cheek against Rin's, completely undeterred by the flailing limbs of her captured prey.

"Yep, you look really cute, Rin-chan~" Komari nodded happily.

"Uuuhhh." Rin's struggles were slowing as she once again realised the futility of trying to fight against Kurugaya's hold. Her face had turned the same colour as a tomato. "Stop it, it's embarrassing."

"What are you all up to?" Riki approached the group and immediately saw the reason for Kurugaya's behaviour. Rin's ponytail had been replaced by twin tails. Her hair was being held up by two large kitten heads. Rin with twin tails was a rare sight indeed. No wonder Kurugaya had pounced on her.

"I brought some hair decorations," Komari explained. She produced a jumble of assorted hair bands and held them out for him to see. "I thought I'd show the others and we'd try them out."

"Hmm, how do I look?" Kud had tied a section of hair up with a large pink scrunchie. The ponytail sprouted from the side of her head.

"Very nice, Kuu-chan."

"Why don't we try them out on Riki-kun?" Kurugaya looked at him with gleaming eyes.

Riki sensed the oncoming danger and started backing away, holding up his hands. "I'd better get back to practice. We've got another game coming up soon after all."

It was a futile protest. Kurugaya released Rin and in the next moment she had Riki's arms pinned behind his back.

"Umu, it's so cute how you think you have a choice."

Riki contemplated calling out to the other boys for help but he doubted it would do any good. Kyousuke would definitely let the girls do what they wanted just so he could enjoy seeing the results for himself. He heaved a sigh and resigned himself to what was to come.

"Alright, I get it."

"Good boy. As a reward, I'll hug you and you can think to yourself 'Hell yeah, I can feel Kurugaya's boobs rubbing up against my back. This is so awesome!' while having a massive nosebleed. How about it?" Kurugaya wrapped her arms around Riki's chest.

"I keep telling you, I'm not a pervert!"

"Hmm, what to try on Riki-kun?" Komari looked at the pile of hair decorations.

"Oh, oh, can I choose?" Haruka leaned in to see what there was. "Ooh, how about these?" She plucked out a couple of bands with large pink bows attached.

"You just had to pick some feminine ones, didn't you?" Riki sighed.

"Yahaha." Haruka grinned from ear to ear as she approached him. She deftly tied the bands around two sections of hair on either side of his head. "Aah, cute. It really suits you, Riki-kun."

"So cute~" Komari had a wide smile on her face.

"I am feeling so humiliated right now." Riki heard a clicking sound and jerked his head up. He really should have known this would happen. "Nishizono-san, why are you taking pictures?!"

Mio regarded him with a light blush. She raised the camera and took another picture.

"Stop iiit!"

"You look even girlier than usual now, Riki," Rin commented.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that comment."

"Hmm, what else could we try? Oh, these are some nice hairclips." Haruka was still at it, rummaging through Komari's pile of hair accessories. "Ahahaha, we're gonna try all sorts of things on Riki-kun. Hmm." A troubled expression formed on her face.

"What is it, Haru-chan?"

"I wish I'd brought my makeup kit."

"No way I'm letting you put makeup on me!"

"Oh well, this is good enough." Haruka removed the bows and added the clips.

It went on like this for a while with Mio constantly taking pictures despite Riki's protests. Eventually, they decided they'd had enough fun with him and allowed him to get back to practice.

Five minutes into the practice, Kyousuke was checking his cellphone. Riki got that sinking feeling. Of course, he should have known this would happen.

"Uwah, don't look!" It was a futile protest.

Kyousuke thumbed his way through the pictures with a grin. "Alright, even more for my collection."

"Collection?" Riki was afraid to ask exactly what that collection was called.

"At this rate I'll be able to start a blog. I'll call it 'Cute Pictures of Riki'."

"Don't you dare!"

"Haha, but I really like these pictures. There's nothing wrong with being cute."

It was useless to protest. Riki just ducked his head, hiding his burning face.


	4. Brown

"Wow, Rin, you got quite a lot of chocolates." Riki looked at the brightly decorated boxes piling up on Rin's desk. He had noticed quite a few boys who weren't even in their class come wandering into the classroom today. Apparently, some of them had Rin set in their sights which wasn't a surprise, considering the popularity she had gained among the boys.

"I don't get it." Rin frowned. "Boys I don't even know have been coming up to me and dropping these on my desk all day. It's weird. Why are they giving me these?"

"Eh, Rin-chan, you mean you don't know?" Komari looked surprised. "It's because today is White Day. You remember that last month was Valentine's Day, right? On that day, girls give chocolates to boys. Then, the following month, on White Day, boys give chocolates to girls."

"Ohhh... right. I think I remember hearing something like that before." Rin slowly nodded. "But why do they do it?"

"Wow, you really don't get it at all, do you?" Kurugaya sidled over, regarding her with a raised eyebrow. "When someone gives another person chocolates, it's meant to be the expression of their desire."

"Right, right." Rin nodded again. "So it's like the stuff I've read in Kyousuke's manga. I get it."

"Rin, I don't think you're supposed to be learning about this kind of thing from Kyousuke's manga."

"Why not? It's very informational."

Riki had no idea how Rin could consider manga for children to be informational in any way, but decided not to comment.

"Wow, Rin-san got so many. I've never received any before." Kud dropped her head. "I wonder why. Is it because I'm too small?" She placed her hands over her chest and sighed.

"Don't worry, Kudryavka-kun. Even Onee-san doesn't get very many chocolates on White Day."

"For real?!" Kud gaped at her. "Even you, Kurugaya-san? But you're so cool and amazing and beautiful! I can't believe you're not getting very many. Surely that's impossible."

"Hardly. I never used to be that sociable so the boys rarely ever took to me." Kurugaya looked sad for a moment. "Looks aren't everything, you see. I imagine Rin-kun is popular not just because she's cute, but also because of her noisy and violent attitude. It gets her quite a lot of attention."

"Does it?" Rin's eyes widened. "Hmm, I guess I'd better keep it down. It's creepy when guys come up to me like that."

"So you've never received chocolates before?" Riki tried to remember if Rin had ever brought it up on previous White Days, but he couldn't think of anything in particular. Maybe she just hadn't seen the need to bring it up in the past.

"Hmm, I wonder." Rin tilted her head. "Actually, I think I might have had boys give me chocolates. I can't remember that well."

Riki wondered if she was forgetting on purpose. Attention was never something Rin had particularly wanted in the past, being as shy as she was.

"You think?" Kurugaya sighed and shook her head. "I feel sorry for those boys."

"I didn't get chocolates either." Komari sighed. She was still looking enviously at the boxes. "Chocolate is yummy."

"Then, Komari-chan, you have one." Rin grabbed a box off the desk and held it out to her. "I don't think I could possibly eat them all anyway."

"Fueeee?!" Komari's face turned a bright scarlet shade. "F-for me?! But, but, these were chocolates given to you in the name of love! Is it really okay for me to have one?"

"Yeah." Rin nodded, smiling. "You can have it, Komari-chan."

"Komari-san, you should realise that Rin doesn't really understand the deep meaning behind these chocolates before getting flustered over it."

"O-oh... yeah... okay..." Komari took the box of chocolates, still blushing. "Thank you, Rin-chan."

"Kud, you can have one as well." Rin held out another box.

"Wow, thank you very much, Rin-san." Kud took the box, smiling in delight.

Komari had already opened her box and popped one of the sweet brown treats into her mouth. "Mmm. Delicious!"

"You're not supposed to be eating in the classroom," Riki said, smiling in bemusement.

"Kurugaya, you want one too?"

"I'll pass, thank you. I'm sure there's someone else you can give a box to. How about Miss Nishizono?"

"Mio?" Rin looked over at Mio, who seemed to be busy writing notes at her desk. She nodded and headed over with a box. "Mio, did you get any chocolate for White Day?"

"No, I didn't." Mio looked up. "Actually, I've never really got chocolates for White Day before."

"Then you can have this."

"Rin-kun is ever so generous, isn't she?" Kurugaya watched them with a soft smile.

"Yeah." Riki nodded. Rin had come a long way since this time last year. It was so heartening to see her handing out gifts to her friends without a second thought.

"Yahaha, good afternoon!" Haruka breezed into the classroom. "What's up?"

"Oh, there you are." Rin came back. "Haruka, did you get chocolates?"

"Chocolates?" Haruka tilted her head.

"Yeah, you know, for White Day," Riki said.

"Oh... not really." Haruka smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm so noisy, the boys probably don't want to give chocolates to an annoying girl like me."

"Goodness, it looks like Rin-kun was the only one to get chocolates, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Riki was starting to feel bad now. He was thinking he ought to have rallied the other boys together and made chocolates for the girls, at least so they weren't ignored, but it was a bit late for that now. Next year, he swore, they would definitely do something.

"Haruka, you can have some." Rin offered her a box.

"Huh? Rin-chan, you're actually giving me chocolate?" Haruka's cheeks flushed. "Oh my god, Rin-chan is giving me chocolate. You're so sweet!" She flung her arms around Rin.

"Hey, get off!" Rin grumbled in her embrace. "It's only because creepy guys keep giving me chocolate, that's all." When Haruka let go, she thrust a box at her.

"Thank you, thank you." Haruka beamed.

"So you've got two boxes left now, huh." Riki glanced at the desk.

"Yeah. Here, you can share it with the idiots," Rin said, handing a box to Riki.

"Uh, thanks."

"And that's all. I guess I can manage the last one." Rin glanced at Kurugaya. "You sure you don't want to share?"

"Hm, you're really eager to include me in this, aren't you? Fine, I don't mind sharing."

"Great." Rin nodded with a smile of satisfaction. "Now everyone has got chocolates. I did a good thing, didn't I, Riki?"

"Yes, you did. Well done, Rin."


	5. Destruction

The earth shattering boom that came over the speaker was enough to send most of the class scrambling underneath their desks, screaming in terror. Riki was startled by the noise but grasped the situation quickly enough that he didn't panic. The sight of so many people leaping under their desks was certainly baffling. Had they all really thought that was an explosion just now?

"Riki!" Masato leaped out of his chair and lunged at Riki. He pushed Riki out of the chair and they fell to the floor together. Masato stayed hunched over Riki, covering his body with his own.

Riki turned his head to see Masato's tense expression as he seemingly waited for something else to happen. "Masato, it was just some noise coming over the speaker."

"What? I really thought that was an explosion just now. My muscles moved all on their own. All I could think was 'Protect Riki!' and I did. Aren't you glad to have me around as your bodyguard?"

"I don't remember ever asking for a bodyguard, and I don't think I'll ever need one." Riki could hear some commotion from the corridor. He guessed the noise had been heard in other classrooms as well. "Whatever was that noise though? I hope it wasn't a real explosion. Um, you can get off me now."

Now that he could move again, Riki got up and took a look around the classroom. Several people were still crouched underneath their desks. Kurugaya and Kengo were both seated in their chairs, calmly looking ahead.

"As expected of them," Riki commented. He could still hear running footsteps and shouts outside. Whatever the noise was, it had caused quite some chaos. He peered out the window to check but nothing looked out of the ordinary which suggested it hadn't been a real explosion after all. What a relief that was.

"Noooooo!" Komari was crying. "I don't want to diiiie!"

Riki was about to go to her, then heard Kud crying out as well.

"Scary!" Kud was curled up in a trembling ball. "It went boom!"

Kurugaya got up and went over to crawl under Kud's desk. "There, there," she said in a soothing tone, putting her arms around the smaller girl. "I'm here now. You can rest your head on Onee-san's bosom."

"Komari-san, it's alright." Riki went over to Komari's desk. "It was just the speaker."

"Huh?" Komari removed her hands from her head and peered up at him. "That was a really loud boom. Did something blow up?"

"I don't think so. I couldn't imagine such destruction taking place in this school anyway." Riki looked over at Rin's desk. She too was huddled under the desk. "Rin, you can come out now. Nothing blew up."

"Really?" Rin was slow to emerge from the desk, looking nervously around as she did so. "Then, what was it?"

"I was so scared." Komari came out as well. "Why did it do that?"

"I have no idea." Riki turned his gaze toward the speaker. He guessed this had to be a prank of some kind. As for who the culprit was, he could make a good guess.

"Good afternoon!" Haruka bounded into the classroom, all smiles. "How is everyone on this fine day?"

"Haruka-san, did you have something to do with this?"

"Eeeeh?!" Haruka looked astonished. "What is this? Riki-kun just suspected me of some wrongdoing right away! I'm so hurt. You really think I would do something like sneaking into the principal's office and planting a cassette player by the microphone?"

"Er, I never said anything like that."

"Oh, yeah. Right." Haruka laughed. "But, you know, it sounded totally convincing, didn't it? It was like, BOOM! And people were like HIT THE DECKS! It was almost like a scene in an action movie."

"Don't scare us like that, moron!" Rin yelled.

"So it really was you, Saigusa." Masato glowered at her. "Thanks to you, I got all worked up over nothing. On the other hand, I did get to look pretty cool."

"What an idiot," Rin muttered, throwing him a dry look.

"Haruka-san, you really shouldn't have done something like that," said Riki.

"Whaaa, what's with this harsh treatment? You guys have no sense of humor sometimes."

"Haru-chan, it's not very nice to go scaring people like that."

"Whoah, I even got told off by Komari-chan?" Haruka's face fell. "How shameful. To think that Haruchin has sunk to such low depths. It's simply unbearable."

"You should apologize to everyone," said Riki. "Even a harmless prank can hurt people."

"Uuu..." Haruka hung her head. "Okay."

"Saigusa Haruka!" A pair of prefects marched into the classroom. "Rigging up a tape to play an explosion over the school broadcast was your doing, wasn't it?"

"Eh? How can you just accuse me without any proof?"

"There's a part on the tape where we clearly hear you introducing a song, and announcing your name!"

"Uwaaaah." Haruka's eyes widened in shock. "I used the wrong tape!" She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Yahaha, I guess you heard me singing. What did you think? Was it good?"

"We can discuss this in the disciplinary committee meeting room. Now come with us."

"Man, I messed up big time." Haruka's shoulders slumped. "Can I have the tape back when you're done? I really liked that song."

"That girl is really shameless as always," Masato grumbled, as they watched the prefects drag her away. "Honestly, that Saigusa. Whatever was she thinking?"

"Haruka-san really is something." Riki smiled in bemusement. "Causing chaos in the whole school. Whatever was she thinking?" Just how brazen could Haruka even get? It seemed she would stop at nothing.

"She's way too noisy," said Rin. "What a fuss she caused."

"Haru-chan may be noisy, but she's a good girl at heart. It's always exciting when she's around. I never really know what she's going to do next. It really feels like she's part of this class."

"Yeah, I think so too." Riki smiled as he looked in the direction of the door.


	6. Rose

It was Riki's birthday today and preparations for the celebration were well under way. Most of the Little Busters were already together in the cafeteria, getting everything ready, and while Riki was looking forward to it, there were two matters currently on his mind. The first one being Kyousuke's absence. Just where had he got to? His phone was turned off and nobody had seen him since this morning. Riki couldn't believe Kyousuke would actually miss an important day like this and yet he was nowhere to be seen.

Secondly, just what was up with that gigantic cake taking up half the cafeteria that nobody had a clue about? It was probably part of some plan of Kyousuke's but that didn't explain his absence. Riki couldn't understand it at all. A giant cake wasn't going to make up for Kyousuke missing out on his birthday party. While staring at the cake, he sighed.

"Cheer up, Riki." Masato clapped a hand on his shoulder. "It's your birthday, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but Kyousuke still isn't here and his phone's turned off. Where could he have got to?"

"Hmm. Hey, I know, why don't you try touching my muscles? I'm sure it will make you feel better." Masato started flexing his arms. "Go right ahead."

"Er, thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."

"Riki, are you still worrying?" Rin came over and peered at Riki's face. "Look, I'm sure that idiot brother's just got some big entrance planned and he's going to wait until the last minute to surprise us." 

"Really?" Komari said. "Hmm, I wonder what he's planning."

"It's probably going to be something really cool. Wafu! I can't wait to see it!"

"I wonder." Haruka tapped her chin. "Oh, I know, maybe he's going to come zooming in on a motorcycle!"

"Impossible," Mio replied. "That would be an unbelievably stupid thing to do, even for Kyousuke-san."

"Wha... well... then... I know, he'll come over the cafeteria in a helicopter and come shimmying down on a rope like in action movies!" Haruka struck a dramatic pose.

Riki put a palm on his forehead. "He wouldn't even be able to afford a helicopter, let alone a motorbike."

"Muu." Haruka exhaled in frustration. "So it's got to be crazy, but affordable. Let's see. Maybe he's going to do a magic trick then. He'll suddenly appear in a puff of smoke!"

"You've got that trick the wrong way round, Haruka-san." Just where did she get this absurd ideas from, Riki wondered.

"May I direct your attention to that glaring clue sitting over there?" Kurugaya interrupted. "Look at that cake. It's plainly obvious that Mr. Kyousuke has got something to do with it. Actually, I'm pretty sure I know where he is right now."

"So you figured it out, huh?" asked Riki. It figured that Kurugaya would be the one smart enough to guess what Kyousuke was up to this time. "So, where is he then?"

"Umu, sorry, but I think it would be wrong of me to ruin the surprise. If you think about it, it's really not that hard to figure out. Why would we need a ridiculously large, fake cake?"

Riki looked at the cake again. A bizarre thought occurred to him. No, surely not, he thought, the idea he'd just had was too absurd. But then again this was Kyousuke they were talking about so it just might be possible.

"He's hiding, huh?" Kengo frowned. "Shouldn't he be helping us get ready for the party?"

"Quite." Kurugaya walked over to the cake and spoke in a loud voice. "What a lazy good for nothing that Mr. Kyousuke is." She looked at the cake for a short moment. "Guess that would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"Wait a minute, Yui-chan."

"No, don't call me Yui-chan."

"Did you just say the cake is fake?"

"Eh?" Everyone turned to look at Komari with astonished faces.

"Komari-chan, you thought the cake was real?" Rin asked.

"Hey, hold on a minute," Masato said. "I just realized something incredible."

"Eh?" Riki glanced at him.

"Cake and fake... don't they rhyme?! Whoah, what a revelation I just had. I wonder if there's some kind of deep meaning to it."

Riki chose not to comment and turned his attention back to the others.

"Ueeeeeehn, so the cake was a lie!" Komari wailed.

"You know, there's plenty of real cake for us to eat," Kengo pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've never seen such a huge cake before. It's so big and so delicious looking, and I really, really wanted to eat it. Doesn't cake look even more delicious the bigger it is? Sometimes, I dream I'm eating cake the size of the Eiffel Tower."

"Komari-san, if you keep looking, maybe you'll find that really big cake one day and then we can all eat it together," Kud said. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah." Komari nodded, a determined expression forming on her face. "I'm going to keep looking for the biggest cake in the world. I'm sure I'll definitely find it one day. All right!"

Eventually, everyone was done with the preparations. Food and drinks had been placed out and decorations put in place. They all gathered around the table. Komari was concerned about starting without Kyousuke present but Kurugaya assured her it would be fine to just go ahead.

"We're all set!" Komari announced. "It's a pity that Kyousuke-san isn't here yet but we can't wait all day for him, so-"

Komari was cut off by the tune to Happy Birthday blasting out of the cake.

"Oh, no way." Riki turned to look at the cake with a chagrined expression. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I knew it." Rin crossed her arms, shooting the cake a dry look. "He's being an idiot as usual."

"He's been sitting in there the whole time like I thought," said Kurugaya. "The things he does never cease to amaze me."

The cake slowly opened to reveal Kyousuke twirling around with a rose in his mouth. A banner hung loosely around his body. It was adorned with the words 'Happy Birthday, Riki'.

Riki buried his burning face in his hands. Right now, he wanted nothing more than the floor to open up and swallow him. He heard a camera clicking and peered through his fingers, seeing Mio holding her camera up. "Wait, why are you taking pictures?!"

"This is a moment that should be forever preserved."

Riki didn't want it to be preserved in the least but he could hardly do anything about it now.

Kyousuke jumped out of the cake and strolled over. With a dramatic flourish, he presented the rose to Riki. "Happy birthday. This is for you."

"Uh..." Riki took the rose, staring at Kyousuke with his jaw hanging slack. He still couldn't find the words to describe how he felt.

"I surprised you, didn't I?" Kyousuke grinned. "I wanted to do something elaborate and totally unexpected for your birthday. How was that?"

"I... I..." Riki looked down at the rose. "Well... that was definitely unexpected. Did you get that from some weird manga?"

"It wasn't manga this time."

"You were sitting in that cake the whole time while we were busy getting ready for the party?" Komari asked.

"Yes, of course. Haha, I really pulled off something cool, didn't I?"

"You." Rin stepped forward and thrust a finger in Kyousuke's face. "You're doing the dishes afterwards."

"Whaaa?"

"All those in favor, say aye." Rin crossed her arms and turned around to face the others.

"Aye!" Resounding agreements came from the crowd.

"Wow, what's with this harsh treatment all of a sudden? I just wanted to do something totally awesome for Riki's birthday and for some reason, I'm being treated like the bad guy?"

Riki saw the wounded look on Kyousuke's face and decided it would be a good idea to say something to cheer him up. "Well, it's nice that you went to so much trouble to surprise me for my birthday. So, thanks."

"Alright, now that's what I want to hear." Kyousuke's smile returned. "Now let's get this party started for real!"

Riki looked down at the rose with a bemused smile. Kyousuke really was an amazing person, as always, he thought.


	7. Truth

Rin knocked on the door and waited. A moment later, the door opened, revealing the absolute last girl Rin had been expecting to see.

Rin gasped, automatically taking a step back at the sight of her rival. "Zazagawa Zazami!"

Sasami had frozen in place with a look of horror on her face. The secret she had been trying so hard to keep had now been exposed and she couldn't think of what to say. Hearing her name be mispronounced however quickly snapped her out of her funk.

"It's SA-SA-SE-GA-WA SA-SA-MI! Natsume Rin, you continue to keep mocking me like this?"

"Sorry, I got the wrong room." Rin glanced at the door to check the number. "Huh, that's weird. It says 131 on the door." She peered past Sasami. "That's Komari-chan's stuffed penguin over there too."

"Ah. That's... well... are you looking for Kamikita-san?" Sasami was hastily racking her brains, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn't reveal her secret.

"This is Komari-chan's room, right?"

Sasami couldn't, in good conscience, bring herself to lie about it especially considering the confusion it might cause next time Komari invited Rin over. "Yes. It is."

"Then, what are you doing in her room?"

Sasami released a laugh out of sheer desperation, holding her hand up to her mouth. "Oh ho ho ho! Natsume Rin... so you have caught me! To think my own rival would catch me in the act! What a blunder!"

"Eh?" Rin tilted her head.

"That's right! I was... in search of Kamikita-san's sweets! I ventured into her room when she was out-"

"Oh, Rin-chan. Did you come to see me?"

Sasami's voice cut off and her gaze fell on Komari. Her face changed to a look of horror yet again.

"Komari-chan!" Rin turned around. "There's somebody in your room." She pointed at Sasami.

"Why, yes." Sasami smirked, placing her hands on her hips. "Didn't expect to see me here, did you? It seems I was caught in the act. Such a foolish blunder indeed. What a pity." She threw her head back and laughed.

"Uh?" Komari shot her a look of puzzlement.

"She was going to steal your sweets." Rin assumed a fighting stance. "Sasasegawa Sasami. I shall punish you right here, right now for your heinous act. I cannot forgive someone who would do such a terrible thing to Komari-chan."

"Bring it on." Sasami did the same. "Today shall be the day I defeat you once and for all, Natsume Rin!"

"Saa-chan, I think we should just tell her."

"Eh, tell me what?"

"Come on in." Komari took Rin's hand and pulled her into the room. "It's okay, Saa-chan was just-"

"Kamikita-san! I really don't think-"

"Huh, that wasn't here before." Rin's attention had been caught by a board hanging on the wall. "Hey, why are there pictures of Kengo on it with hearts drawn on them?"

Sasami's face turned pale.

"Um, that's..." Komari looked between Sasami and Rin, fumbling for an explanation. She was hesitant to say anything if Sasami really didn't want her to.

"Komari-chan, are you in love with Kengo?"

"Fueeeeeeeeee?!" Komari's eyes turned wide. "Wha-wha-what are you saying? I'm not in love with Kengo-kun!"

Since the situation was clearly getting out of control, Sasami could see no choice but to intervene. "That's mine."

"Eh?" Rin looked at her, completely nonplussed. "Why would your stuff be in Komari-chan's room?"

"That's because..." Sasami paused, looking down at her feet and fidgeting. "We're roommates."

"Room... mates?" Rin slowly looked toward Komari, who nodded.

"Yup. Saa-chan and I are roommates."

"Whaaaaaaa?!"

"Sorry about not telling you sooner, but Saa-chan was trying to keep it a secret. She would hide all the evidence whenever I invited you over but this time you came over unannounced and caught her."

"So, there you go." Sasami was still averting her gaze. "Are you satisfied now, Natsume Rin? You have exposed my greatest secret."

Rin stared at Sasami with a complicated expression, deliberating over her words. Then she walked up to her.

"Eh, what is it?"

Rin bent over in a bow. "Thank you for taking care of Komari-chan."

"E-eh..." Sasami was completely taken aback. "What is the meaning of this... are you mocking me?" She backed away, her face flushing. "Natsume Rin. You had better remember this!" She turned and ran out of the room.

"Komari-chan and Zazazegawa Zazami are roommates. Yes, I will remember it." Rin nodded. "She sure wants me to remember a lot of things, doesn't she?"

"Well, that's just how Saa-chan is," Komari said, with a bemused smile. "I hope you two can become good friends one day. So, you're not bothered by us being roommates?"

"It was a really shocking plot twist. I was profoundly shocked. But, I don't really mind."

"Oh, good. I'm not really sure why Saa-chan was so desperate to keep it a secret. She's the kind of person who has trouble being honest with others and she may seem rough on the outside, but really she's a kind and caring person. Please don't tell her I said that though, I'm sure she'd get mad at me."

"Okay. I wouldn't mind being friends with her, but she's so difficult. She always gets mad at me and tells me to remember stuff and her name is so hard to remember. It's a terrible trouble." Rin expelled a puff of breath, blowing her bangs up. "But if it's for Komari-chan, I'll try my best."

"Great." Komari smiled wider. "I hope you succeed, Rin-chan."


	8. Bar

"Well, Riki, you've finally turned twenty." Kyousuke slung his arm over Riki's shoulders. "You know what that means?"

"Huh?" Riki was still having a bit of a hard time believing he was out of his teens at last. Just where had all that time gone? It was honestly a bit sad to think they were all growing up so quickly.

"You can do certain adult things like going out to bars and drinking with your mates."

"Uh huh." Riki hadn't thought about that. "Is it that big a deal?"

"Nah, not really. I just thought it would be cool to try it once."

"You mean, you haven't been to a bar yet?" Riki looked surprised.

"No, of course not. It's boring if I can't do it with my friends. Masato, Kengo, what do you think? Should we hit the bars and have a guys' night out?"

"Heh. I've been waiting for this." Masato grinned. "Kengo, I'm going to beat you!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Riki.

"He means he's going to see who can drink the most before having to give up," Kengo replied.

"But, isn't that really bad for you?" Riki frowned. "Have either of you ever had a drink?"

"No," they replied in unison.

"Ehhh?"

"We all agreed, getting drunk for the first time is something the Little Busters should do together." Kyousuke grinned.

"What kind of a promise is that?" Riki muttered. "Are you guys completely nuts?"

"He'll probably pass out after one drink," Masato said.

"If he can even get that far," said Kengo.

"Wanna bet?"

"Hey!" Riki exclaimed. "Don't go betting on me like that, you two!"

"Well then, let's go." Kyousuke punched the air. "It's time to have some fun as adults."

Riki had a very bad feeling about this. However, it was useless to try and go against Kyousuke's wishes, so he could only go along with everyone and pray that it wouldn't somehow end in disaster.

They went into the first bar they found and ordered glasses of sake.

Riki grimaced as he sipped at the liquid. "Ugh. This tastes terrible. Do people really drink this stuff?"

"Apparently." Kyousuke too had a disgusted expression on his face. "Oh well, I guess we just have to acquire the taste."

"Is it really necessary?" Riki looked across the table at Masato and Kengo who didn't seem too bothered. "Whoah, Masato, don't drink so fast!"

"Geez, you're such a worrywart, Riki." Masato smiled. "This is supposed to be a fun guys' night out. We're supposed to just let ourselves go and not have a care in the world."

"He's right though, you shouldn't get too carried away." Kengo calmly sipped at his drink.

"Tch, fine. But I'm still going to outdo Kengo."

"Sure, but you can't start a new glass until Kengo's finished his," said Kyousuke.

"Okay, okay."

Riki quietly sighed in relief. It was good to see that Kyousuke was still being sensible and making sure they didn't get too out of control. Maybe he didn't need to be so worried after all. He continued to drink the sake. On the second glass, his face started to grow warm.

"Hah, Riki's going red." Masato smirked. "You're doing well to get that far."

"Am I?" Riki mumbled. His head was beginning to feel heavy. "Whoah, This feels really weird."

"Haha, isn't this great?" Kyousuke had a wide grin on his face. "It's been so long since we got together like this. We're going to have a wild night! Yeah!"

"So, how are you feeling, Kengo?" Masato asked.

"Alright." Kengo took a sip. He and Masato were already on their third glasses. "You?"

"Hmph, I don't feel a thing."

"Your face is getting red though," Riki said.

"Nah, that's just because my blood is raging with excitement."

"Nope, it's the alcohol," Kyousuke said. He too was looking pretty red. "So, let's talk about the girls we like. Riki, who do you like?"

"Not telling." Riki felt exasperated to hear the question from Kyousuke yet again. Did he expect a different answer just because Riki was drinking? It didn't matter how much he drank, he wasn't going to answer any differently.

"Not yet, huh?" Kyousuke muttered.

Riki shot him a look. So that really was his intention after all? 

The night went on...

"Hey, I thought of a funny muscle joke. Want to hear it?" Masato asked.

"Sure," said Kengo.

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Muscle."

"Muscle who?"

"Mah soul," Masato said, deliberately slowing the words down to sound similar to muscle, "is screaming 'just let me in already!'"

Kengo alone started laughing until tears came to his eyes. Kyousuke and Riki just exchanged blank looks.

"I think they should stop soon," Riki said.

"Haha. The night's still young. Want another drink?"

"No thanks."

"Alright." Kyousuke leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "I'm just going to continue keeping count."

After a few more minutes, Kengo put his hand over his mouth. "Urk..."

"What's the matter, had enough?" Masato asked.

"I think... I'd better stop now."

"Oh dear. Looks like you're at your limit." Kyousuke got to his feet on wobbly legs. "Time for some fresh air."

"Haha, I totally won." Masato grinned from ear to ear. "Alright, I'm so awesome!"

"It's probably because you're more heavily built than Kengo," Riki said.

"Yeah. Well, I still won."

Riki was quite relieved to feel the cool air on his face. It felt so refreshing. Kyousuke had an arm around his shoulders, which was a great help, as his legs were just barely supporting him. He heard singing and looked back to see Masato and Kengo with their arms around each other's shoulders, singing at the top of their voices.

"Alcohol just seems to make them even bigger idiots."

"What's wrong with that?" Kyousuke laughed. "Hmm, we should do something fun. Oh, hey, that's it!"

"What?" Riki asked.

"There's a karaoke parlor over there. Let's go make absolute fools of ourselves. It doesn't seem like Masato and Kengo would object right now."

Normally, Riki would protest at the idea of going to a karaoke parlor. The only one of the childhood friends to go to a karaoke parlor was Rin, and that was because the other girls had dragged her there. However, he was just too tired to even care.

At some point, while listening to Kyousuke sing, Riki fell asleep. The seat just felt so comfortable and he couldn't resist.

When he next woke up, it was already morning and his head was aching. He was lying on a sofa with a blanket draped over him. As Riki looked around, he realized he was in Kyousuke's apartment.

"Uhh..." Riki rubbed his head and staggered off the sofa. What was the last thing he remembered? Oh yeah, he had been forced to listen to his friends singing really badly. Fortunately, he hadn't had the chance to sing himself. Still, that was pretty embarrassing to have fallen asleep while he was out with his friends.

"Hey, Kyousuke?" Riki pushed open the door to Kyousuke's bedroom. "Are you in here?"

"Mmm?" Kyousuke mumbled, his bleary eyes peeking out from over the duvet. "Oh, Riki... good morning. Ugh." His head hit the pillow. "My head."

"Your head hurts too, huh?"

"Yeah... you were really out of it last night. We had to carry you back here."

"Aha, sorry about that." Riki smiled sheepishly. "Well, I think I'll make some coffee. Want some?"

"Sure."

"Alright. You know, last night was pretty fun. Even if I ended up falling asleep."

"Glad to hear it."


	9. Mouse

"Look, Rin-chan, one of your cats has got something in its mouth." Komari pointed at a cat, who was sitting some distance away from the others. It lay down and began to play with the grey object caught between its jaws.

"What? Fabre, are you eating something funny? You're not supposed to... oh." Rin had walked over to get a closer look. "He caught a mouse. It looks like it's still alive too."

"Really?" Komari came over to Rin's side. Her expression grew worried as she watched the cat continue to play with its prey. "The poor thing. Is he going to hurt it?"

"Well, that's just what cats do," Rin replied, looking nonchalant. "They always catch small animals, like mice and birds, and play with them. Usually, they will kill them and bring them to their owners. It's gross, but that's just how they are." Rin watched the wriggling mouse. "I guess I do feel bad for it though. Mice and birds must be pretty scared when cats are playing with them."

"Oh." Komari lowered her head, sighing. "I really feel sorry for that mouse. Why does it have to die?"

Rin saw the look on Komari's face. "It's alright, Komari-chan. I'll save the mouse."

"Huh? You will?"

"Mmm. Hey, Fabre, that's enough. You're upsetting Komari-chan." Rin proceeded to pick the cat up and it mewed, clawing at the air. "Hey, no. Behave yourself." Holding tightly onto the cat, she called out to the mouse. "Shoo, little mouse, run away while you still can. Get out of here before the other cats see you."

Meanwhile, the mouse lay stunned for a few seconds before becoming aware of its freedom. It got up and scampered away as fast as its tiny legs could go.

"Phew, looks like the mouse wasn't too badly hurt." Rin continued to hold onto Fabre until the mouse was out of sight. "There we go." She set the cat down. "Sorry, Fabre, I know you were just being a cat but Komari-chan really didn't want you to do that. You understand, right?"

"Thank goodness. The mouse got away." Komari's face lit up with a sunny smile. "I'm so glad."

"You really like animals, don't you?"

"Mmm." Komari nodded. "I hate to see an animal suffering or worse."

"Yeah." Rin exhaled. "I'm always grossed out when the cats bring me dead animals. It used to really freak me out when I was little. Fortunately, Kyousuke would always deal with it. He told me something once. When a cat brings you their prey, they are actually giving you a present."

"Fue?" Komari's eyes grew wide. "Really? Presents?"

"Yup. Apparently, cats think people like it when they bring them dead things. I don't really get it myself. They are doing it because they appreciate you, so you're supposed to praise them for it." Rin folded her arms, frowning slightly. "I still want to scold them sometimes though."

"I see." Komari looked at the cats weaving between their legs. "Cats really are strange creatures. Of course, I don't mean that in a bad way, I do like cats."

"Okay. No offence taken."

"Good, good. Anyway, you must get that kind of thing a lot, huh? You have so many of them after all."

"Well, it doesn't really happen at school. At home though, yeah, it happened quite often."

"Ehe. I think your cats must really love you, Rin-chan. They are so lucky to have you."

"Ugh..." Rin's face turned red. "Don't say such embarrassing things."

"Hehe." Komari looked away. "Howaa?!"

"What's wrong now?"

Komari pointed at another cat, who had a mouse in its jaws. It could have been the same mouse from before for all they knew.

"Oi, Cobain-"

"It's okay."

"Hm?" Rin looked at her quizzically.

"What you said made me think. We should just let cats be cats after all." Komari smiled. "Even if I still feel bad for the mouse."

"Okay." Rin nodded, watching the cat dart away with its prey. "I feel bad for it too, you know, but it's just what cats do. Such troublesome cats, indeed."


	10. Leaf

Rin rested her chin in her hands as she sat against the wall, her gaze fixed on the scampering cats. Countless leaves were being blown about by the wind and skidding along the ground. Every so often, a cat would pounce on one of the leaves and bat it into the air.

"You guys are really having fun, aren't you?" Rin smiled. The sight of her cats crouched low with tails twitching and leaping brought her such delight. She could watch them all day if only she didn't have classes. She raised her head, looking toward the red and gold hued trees. "Wow, I can't believe it's fall already. Summer went by so fast."

Rin exhaled loudly. "Summer wasn't even as fun as usual. Kyousuke wasn't around so we didn't get to do the usual crazy stuff, and Kengo wasn't here either. Hmm. I wonder when Kyousuke will be getting out of the hospital? I'm sure he'll be out eventually. It's Kyousuke after all."

A cat mewed and walked over to her.

"Hm? What is it? Are you trying to cheer me up?" Rin rubbed the cat's head. "You don't have to. I'm fine. Riki and everyone else are here. We're still having fun."

"Hey, Rin."

"Oh, Riki."

"Playing with the cats as usual, huh?" Riki sat down next to her.

"I'm not playing with them. The cats are playing with the leaves."

"Whatever you say." Riki smiled in bemusement. It seemed Rin would never outgrow the habit of denying playing with her cats, even though the entire school had to know about it by now. He silently watched the cats play for a short while. "They certainly look like they are having fun." 

"Mm. They love chasing anything that moves."

Riki cocked a glance at Rin, taking in the sight of that gentle smile curving her lips as she watched the cats at play. It seemed that it was fun for her too, though she probably wouldn't admit it if he asked her directly. Riki was glad to see she could still enjoy herself, even if she had to have worries deep down. He was trying his best too, for everyone.

As Riki watched the cats along with Rin, a smile formed on his own face. They looked so carefree, delighting in chasing the leaves and living free of worry. It must be nice being a cat, he thought.


	11. Tree

"Fabre, where are you?" Rin cupped her hands around her mouth as she shouted. She wandered through the trees, flanked by the other members of the Little Busters. "Fabre!"

A distant mew reached their ears and they looked up, spotting a forlorn looking cat huddled up on a lofty branch.

"Ah! There he is." Rin leaned against the tree. "Fabre, it's okay, come on down."

Rather than do as she said, the cat just meowed again.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked. "Are you stuck?"

"He probably climbed too high without realising it," Kyousuke said. "Now he's afraid to climb back down the tree."

"It must feel nice to be so high up," Masato commented.

"What are you saying, you idiot, he's obviously scared! Listen to him mewing." Rin looked anxious. "It's okay, Fabre, we're going to save you! Just hold on. Hmm." She folded her arms and fell into thought. "He's so high up, getting him down will be a terrible trouble."

"Maybe we could get a ladder," Riki suggested.

"I think we'd have a hard time finding one that tall," Kengo said.

"I guess there's no choice." Rin seized the nearest branch and swung herself up. She nimbly began to climb up the tree.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Riki watched her climb with a horrified look. Surely climbing the tree to rescue the stuck cat was way too reckless. He noticed a flash of white between her legs and ducked his head. "Uh, er..."

"Hm? What is it, Riki?" Kyousuke glanced at him.

"It's, well, I just saw... um, that." Riki's face started to burn. He snuck glances at Kengo and Masato, who were looking at him with equally puzzled expressions. Did none of them realise? "Well, you know, she's wearing a skirt, so..."

"Oh, that?" Kyousuke shrugged. "Yeah, what about it?"

Riki looked at him, aghast. "What are you saying? Don't you realize your sister's dignity is at stake here?"

"What do you want us to do about it?" Masato asked.

"Well..." Riki hesitated, carefully choosing the right words to say. "I just think somebody needs to tell Rin she has to be more careful about this kind of thing especially now we're in middle school. She's so much of a tomboy, i doubt she's ever given it any thought. Don't you think so too, Kyousuke?"

Kyousuke shrugged with a bemused smile. "You tell her then." 

"If I tell her I just saw her panties, she might kick me."

"Then Masato can do it. He always gets kicked by Rin anyway."

"No way!" Masato exclaimed. "It's painful enough getting kicked all the time, I'm not going to make her do it on purpose. What kind of sadist do you think I am?"

"You mean masochist, don't you?" Riki asked.

"Huh? I got it wrong? Masochist... maso... hey, doesn't it sound kind of similar to my name? Uwaaah, maybe I really am a masochist after all!"

"Anyway, Riki," Kyousuke said, "how come you're so bothered by it? Could it be you're developing a crush on Rin?"

"Wh-what?" Riki spluttered, his face turning a brilliant shade of red. "No, no, no, I'm absolutely not!"

"You've turned really red," Kengo commented.

"Uwaaah..." 

"Haha." Kyousuke grinned. "I think you two would make a cute couple."

"No, no, no." Riki buried his face in his hands.

"You guys!"

Everyone looked up to see Rin balanced precariously on the branch, clutching Fabre in her arms. She was so high up that they couldn't even see what expression she was wearing on her face.

"You got him, Rin? Good job!" Kyousuke called back. "You coming down?"

Rin did not respond.

"Uh, Rin?" Kyousuke called again.

"Isn't she going to come down?" Riki felt a growing sense of dread.

"I'll come down! ... In a minute."

A long, awkward moment passed in which Rin barely moved so much as a muscle. Everyone else stood there silently, watching and waiting for her to do something.

"Why isn't she coming down?" Kengo asked.

Kyousuke sighed, putting the palm of his hand against his forehead. "I think I can guess."

"You're stuck, aren't you?" Masato yelled. "Just admit it already!"

"Shut the hell up, moron!"

"Yeah, she's stuck." Riki sighed as well. "Why did she even climb up there in the first place?"

"Now what are we going to do?" Kyousuke rubbed his chin. "Maybe someone could climb up-"

"And what if they got stuck too?" Riki protested. "At this rate, we'd probably all end up stuck in the tree. Shouldn't we call for help?"

"Hmm. Well, maybe we'll just have to catch her," Kyousuke said. At this suggestion, Riki's jaw dropped. "If Masato, Kengo and I join hands and form a circle, we could probably do it like that."

"Probably?" Riki's voice rose. He watched on with a disbelieving expression as Masato and Kengo did as Kyousuke suggested. "No, no, no, let's just go and get help, I'm sure we passed some houses back there, we could-"

"Rin, it's okay!" Kyousuke called out. "Just jump down and we'll catch you!"

"Are you crazy?" Rin shrieked. "I don't want to die!" Her shrieking caused the cat to become startled and try to break free of her grip. This, in turn, caused Rin to lose her balance and fall from the branch. 

"OH MY GOD!" Riki's yell mingled with Rin's scream.

Rin landed in the boys' arms and they all fell to the ground.

Riki, who had closed his eyes at the moment of impact, slowly cracked them open to look at the tangled mess of limbs and bodies sprawled over the ground. The cat had broken free and was sprinting away.

"Uh... are you guys okay?"

"Wow, that sure was intense." Masato sat up, letting out a faint groan.

"Alright, we totally pulled it off." Kyousuke sat as well with a grin plastered on his face. "Piece of cake." He flashed a thumbs up.

Riki's gaze fell on Rin's form lying on the ground. Her eyes were closed. "Uh... why isn't she moving?" His heart picked up its pace. "Are you sure you actually caught her?!"

"I think she just passed out," Kengo said.

"Oh." Riki exhaled, his body relaxing. For a moment there, he had been seriously afraid. Honestly, he thought, one of these days he was going to have a heart attack with such reckless friends like them. At that moment, the familiar numbness overcame his body and he felt himself slipping away.

Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo were looking over Rin when they heard the thump.

"Oh, boy." Kyousuke looked at the sleeping Riki. "Now that's two of them."

The two were propped up against the tree.

"Aww, they look so cute. Oh, that reminds me, I brought this along." Kyousuke pulled a camera from his pocket and knelt down to snap a picture.

After he took it, Rin's eyes opened. She stared blankly at the camera and heard the shutter click as he took another picture.

"Wha... what are you doing? Don't take pictures of me when I'm sleeping!"

"But you won't let me do it when you're awake."

"That doesn't mean I want you to... huh, wait a minute." Rin looked around. "Where's Fabre? And why is Riki sleeping next to me?"

"That's just the narcolepsy again. The cat ran off," Kyousuke replied.

"Hmph, what an ungrateful creature," Masato said. "We risk our lives to save it and it runs off. Cats." He tsked.

"Don't talk about my cats like that!" Rin kicked him.

"Well, it all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Kyousuke patted Rin's head with a grin, prompting her to scowl at him. "You don't have to be afraid of anything with your awesome big brother around."

"You're a dumbass."

"Yeah, yeah." Kyousuke turned around to face Masato and Kengo. "Alright, then. Mission Complete!" With that said, he punched the air.


	12. Crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by a certain hidden scene in the visual novel, which can be watched here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC0T2nl8adQ ) What if Rin accompanied Riki and Saya in the dungeon? This is purely for fun and not to be taken seriously in the least.

Riki and Saya were just about to enter the tunnel to the dungeon below the school when a voice from behind stopped them.

"Riki?"

That was the absolute last voice Riki wanted to hear at a time like this. He slowly turned around, praying his ears were just playing tricks on him. Unfortunately for him, that was not the case. There was Rin, standing next to the pyramid of desks and watching him with a puzzled expression.

"What are you doing here?" Riki almost screamed. She absolutely could not be here in the school at night, not with the Executives of Darkness around. It was just too dangerous.

Why was she holding a stick anyway?

"Well, I saw you running off with that girl into the school, and it looked like you were doing something fun so I wanted to join in." Rin glanced at Saya, then back to Riki. A slight frown formed on her face. "Who is she anyway? I've never seen her before."

"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you."

"Hey!" Riki exclaimed. Rin regarded Saya with wide eyes and slowly backed away.

"Just kidding. I'm actually a spy. You had better leave now while you still can, and don't tell anyone-"

At that moment, Darkness Executives rose from the ground just behind Rin.

"Rin! Look out!" Riki raised his gun, but stopped. He couldn't shoot them with Rin in the way.

Rin whirled around, letting out a gasp. "Whoah, where did those guys come from?"

"Get out of the way!" Riki exclaimed, trying to aim the gun.

"Take this!"

Then Rin did something unbelievable. She raised the stick and poked one of them.

The Darkness Executive howled and disappeared.

"What... what..." Riki stuttered, his mouth flapping open and shut. "What just...?"

"Hmm." Saya watched on without a trace of surprise in her expression.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked."

"Then why did you try it?!"

"Okay, you're next! Yaaah!" Rin poked the other Darkness Executive. He too disappeared. "Wow, this is so cool." She turned around, facing Riki with a smile. "This is fun! Can I join you?"

"Absolutely not!"

"I don't see why not."

Riki turned around to face Saya with a look of disbelief. "Are you crazy?"

"You saw what just happened, didn't you? I'm going to need all the help I can get and it looks like they won't hurt her. If they try to shoot her, we'll just shoot them first, right?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Riki muttered. This had to be some crazy dream he was having.

"Alright, you can come along, but be sure to watch your step. There will be a lot of traps ahead. It's a very dangerous mission."

"Okay, no problem. So, who are you anyway?"

"Tokido, the name's Tokido Saya. Nice to meet you, Rin-chan."

"No, no, no," Riki was murmuring with his face in his hands. This couldn't be happening.

In the end, Rin ended up accompanying them every step of the way, despite Riki's constant protests. None of the traps they encountered were enough to deter her either. To her, this dangerous and life-threatening mission was genuinely fun.

She really didn't get it at all, Riki thought. 

***

"We're here." Saya came to a stop.

"Huh?" Riki glanced at the corridor stretching ahead of them. "What's going to happen?"

"This is where we'll meet the final boss. In other words, the mastermind behind this game."

"Whoah." Rin's eyes grew huge. "Is he gonna be like, really tough to beat? Hmm, this may be troublesome." She glanced at her stick. "I'm probably gonna need a bigger stick."

"Rin, how about you sit this one out?"

"No way."

"Well then, let's go meet the mastermind." Saya walked forward.

"Mastermind? I don't want to hear that from you."

Riki gasped as he heard the masculine voice. He turned around to see a figure emerge from the shadows. There was an ominous feeling about him. Immediately, Riki could tell that he was different to the enemies they had fought on the way here. They had been mere shadows but this person was different. He was human.

"Who are you?" Riki asked.

"Tokikaze Shun, the leader of the Darkness Executives. I guess I should congratulate you for making it here, huh?" The masked stranger began walking towards them.

Riki tensed, taking a step in front of Rin and reaching for his gun.

"Too bad you won't be making it any further."

"The final boss is scary looking," said Rin. "But we have to get that treasure. Let's go!" She dashed past Riki, charging at Tokikaze. "Diiiiiiie!"

"Rin, no!" Riki almost fainted dead away.

"Take that! And that!" Rin frenziedly poked at him with the stick. After a while, she stopped. "Hmm, it's not doing anything."

Tokikaze chuckled and patted Rin on the head. "Aww, look at you trying to take me down with that puny stick. You're so adorable."

Rin gritted her teeth. "Don't make fun of me, jerk!" She raised her leg and aimed a kick, only for him to disappear before it connected. "Wah, he vanished. Where did he go?"

"Looks like he ran away." Saya made an amused sound. "I guess the thought of being hit by one of Rin-chan's kicks must have been too much for him."

"Is that so," Rin mumbled. "Hmm. I wonder why I thought of that idiot brother just then. Well, whatever, let's go get that treasure." She dashed off down the corridor.

"Rin!" Riki chased after her. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's dangerous!"

"But it's okay, right?" Rin paused and turned around. "Because you're here, Riki."

"Eh?"

"You're here so I don't have to worry." Rin flashed him a smile before taking off again.

"She really trusts you," Saya said, walking past him. "You're lucky, Riki-kun." Before Riki could ask her what that meant, she was hurrying after Rin.

"Eh. But it's so worrying seeing her put herself in danger like that." Riki wondered if Rin really was aware of how dangerous it was. Or maybe he had overestimated the difficulty. Come to think of it, wasn't Saya the one who had said how dangerous this mission was? Of course he'd believed her, especially when those agents of darkness attacked with real guns. They had even threatened to capture Rin, so he had taken them seriously.

Maybe he had been taking this whole situation way too seriously from the start. Yeah, that had to be it.

Though those traps had looked pretty deadly.

And those guns had looked pretty real.

It was all too strange.

They took the elevator down and reached the room where the treasure was hidden. Saya opened the door and they entered.

Riki could not believe his eyes.

A colossal pyramid of Mon Petit cans reached up to the ceiling. The sound of mewing reached his ears and he looked down to see several baskets filled with kittens.

"What the heck?" Riki exclaimed. "THIS is the treasure?!"

"Oh, wow!" Rin's face lit up. "Mon Petit! So much Mon Petit! And kittens!" She knelt down in front of the baskets and started picking them up. "They are so cute. But why keep them in this dark and creepy room? Poor kittens. It's okay, I'll take you all home." She looked over her shoulder at Riki with a big smile. "This is the best treasure ever!"

Now Riki got it.

There was only one explanation for this.

Who else would set up some ridiculous farce like this? 

No wonder none of the enemies they encountered had tried to harm Rin.

It all made perfect sense.

Even though he'd thought Kyousuke wouldn't go so far as to have a threat issued against his own sister...

What a fool he had been. He had been played from the very start.

"DAMMIT, KYOUSUKEEEEE!"


	13. Death

"You're still here, huh?"

Komari is walking by herself back to the girls' dormitory when she hears the voice and stops. She turns to see Kyousuke leaning against the wall, his arms folded to his chest as he looks at her with a faint smile.

"Kyousuke-san." Komari flashes an awkward smile at him. "You surprised me a little."

"Did I? My bad." Kyousuke jams his hands into his pockets and approaches her. "Riki was able to help you overcome your regret, right?"

"Ah. Yeah, he really helped me." Komari intertwines her fingers as she lowers her head. "Now I can move on without any regrets thank to him. It's a pity that I'll have to die, but I can only accept it. There's nothing that can be done about it, right?" She raises her head, meeting Kyousuke's gaze with a serious look. "I'm not going to be sad."

"That's good." Kyousuke is silent for a while, staring at Komari with a slight frown. "I was just wondering why you hadn't moved on from this world yet."

"Ah. Right." The corners of Komari's mouth lift into an awkward smile. "I suppose I'm being a bit selfish, staying on like this. Sorry. Do you want me to go?"

"I didn't say that. I just wanted to know the reason, that's all. Is there another regret in your heart?"

Komari shakes her head. "No, that's not it. I've decided to stay here because of Rin-chan."

"Hm?"

"I've grown really attached to her. She's a very precious friend to me and I love her dearly, so that's why I've decided to stay by her side for as long as possible." Komari's expression grows doubtful. "Is that okay? The time we've spent together has been so short, I... I just want to be with her and everyone else even longer. I don't feel ready to say goodbye yet."

"I see," Kyousuke murmurs with a sad look. "Well, I'm glad Rin was able to befriend you and the other girls. It makes me happy to think she has new friends who care about her so much. It's a great thing... but..."

"But I will have to leave her eventually, won't I?" Komari swallows, forcing back the lump forming in her throat. "I know it's not possible, but I wish I could be with Rin-chan forever."

"I know." Kyousuke understands so well. If there was anything he could do to avoid his imminent death, so that he could remain with Riki and Rin, he would do it. He hated it so much, knowing he would eventually have to say goodbye to them. Why did fate have to be so cruel? "But we can't. One day, we will have to leave them behind and move on."

Komari lowers her head. "If only." Her voice wobbles as she speaks. "If only I had been able to make friends with Rin-chan sooner, back in the real world. It's such a pity." A stinging sensation pricks the back of her eyes. "I want to stay in this dream until the end. I'll be there for Rin-chan. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It's fine." Kyousuke places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You can be there for Rin as long as you like, until the end."

Komari sniffles and reaches up to rub her teary eyes. "Thank you... Kyousuke-san..."

"Hey, now, you shouldn't cry."

"Eh, I'm a bit of a crybaby, aren't I?" Komari laughs weakly and puts on a smile. "But I'm going to do my best. I'm going to take the advice Riki-kun gave me and keep smiling. I'll be happy, and make Rin-chan happy too."

"Good." Kyousuke smiles back. "Well, see you later." He raises a hand and walks away. The smile gradually fades from his face as he looks toward the purple tinted sky. It really is such a terrible pity, thinking that the bonds formed both inside and outside of this world will one day be severed by the eventuality of death.


	14. Mind

Masato was walking backwards while talking, unaware of the danger he was posing to the living being just behind him. Fortunately, Rin noticed just in time and let out a shriek.

"Look where you're going, you idiot!"

Wham! 

Rin finished her rebuke with a sharp kick to Masato's side. She then ran over to the lounging cat on the ground and picked it up.

"Hey, Hitler, you shouldn't sleep in a place like this. Why don't you go on the grass," Rin was saying as she carried the cat away to a grassy area.

"Geez. those cats are everywhere," Masato muttered. "Actually, isn't it entirely your fault there are cats all over the school, Kyousuke?"

"Hmm. I may have contributed significantly to the number of cats at this school, true, but as long as Rin's happy, isn't that all that matters?"

"I've heard the teachers aren't happy about it though," Riki said. "But, yeah, I don't really mind it either. It's kind of nice, isn't it?"

"It's troublesome if they get under my feet and Rin kicks me for it." Masato grimaced. "Then again, she kicks me all the time."

"Maybe you should try and think of a way to get her to stop doing it," said Kengo.

"Heh." Kyousuke looked amused at the thought. "Good luck with that. No matter how many times I tell her, she continues to be loud and violent. I don't think that will ever change."

"We should think of a way, for Masato's sake." Riki put a hand to his chin, looking thoughtful.

"Hmm." Kengo closed his eyes for a moment in silent contemplation. "I know."

"Huh? You've thought of a way?" Masato's eyes widened. "Tell me!"

"Well, she often uses high kicks on you, right?" Kengo gave him a serious look. "Isn't it possible you've been seeing her panties every time?"

Kyousuke and Riki exchanged looks, with raised eyebrows. This wasn't what they had expected to hear in the least.

"Eh?" Masato frowned. "Well, she kicks me so fast, it's not like I ever really see them... and it's not like I want to..."

"Wow, Masato. You really have a pure heart, don't you?" Kyousuke commented.

"Why would I care about seeing her panties?!" Masato exclaimed. "Is it really such a big deal?!"

"It's not something you need to get defensive about," Riki said. "It's a good thing."

"Anyway," Kengo said, "she doesn't know that. If you want her to stop, just tell her you can see her panties every time she kicks you. You should go do it right now."

"Alright!" Masato grinned. "Thanks, Kengo! You're brilliant! I'm going to tell her!" He marched over to Rin, who was engrossed in petting the cat.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Riki stretched out a hand toward the departing Masato. "Don't actually go and do it."

"Wow." Kengo raised an eyebrow. "He's really doing it. What an idiot."

"Kengo." Riki sighed, giving him a reproachful look. "You really shouldn't tease Masato like that."

"Well, it could work. If Rin actually minds Masato seeing her panties, she might stop. Let's see how it turns out." Kyousuke was watching on with a grin.

"Don't encourage Kengo!"

"Rin." Masato folded his arms, looking gravely at her. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Mm?" Rin stood up, seeming puzzled. "What is it?"

"Actually..." Masato took a sharp breath then slowly exhaled. "Every time you kick me, I can see your panties!"

A long, awkward silence followed in which Rin gradually processed what Masato had just told her. Then her expression turned indignant.

"PERVERT!" Rin's scream could be heard far in the distance. Her leg whipped through the air and her foot connected with Masato's body.

"As expected of Rin," said Kyousuke.

"Honestly, I don't know what else he expected," Riki muttered with a despairing expression.

"What the hell?! Don't kick me after I tell you something like that!"

"Calm down, Rin," Kyousuke said, as they joined the two. "Masato was only kidding."

"Dammit." Masato screwed his face up. "All that was for nothing... thanks a lot, Kengo." He shot a look at Kengo and saw his smirk. "Wait a minute... you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"It's not my fault your mind is so weak, you'll believe anything like an idiot."

"What?! Why you...!"

"Ah, geez. Now you've gone and made him mad." Riki sighed. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" He could only watch on helplessly as Masato roared and charged at Kengo. Kengo already had his shinai at the ready and was easily fending off Masato's punches.

"Huh?" Rin's eyes were wide. "What? What's going on?"

"Ah, Kengo just played a prank on Masato again," Kyousuke replied.

"Ugh." Rin narrowed her eyes. "Those two are such idiots sometimes."

"You could try kicking Masato less, you know," said Kyousuke.

"Hmm. I'll think about it." Rin turned her attention back to the cat.

"No, this isn't something you should have to think about," Riki said, but Rin didn't seem to be paying attention anymore. He shook his head wearily. "It's hopeless. Anyway, Kyousuke, go break Masato and Kengo up already."

"Yeah, yeah." Kyousuke waved a hand as he walked over to the brawling pair.

Riki flopped down on the grass next to Rin, exhaling loudly. He watched Kyousuke deal with the situation, with a weary smile on his face.


	15. Memory

"Here we are." Kyousuke suddenly stopped in front of a tree and knelt down, brushing his hand over the bark. "Yeah, this is definitely the right one."

"Huh?" Masato scratched his head. "I don't understand what he's doing."

"I don't get it either. You took us all the way out here so we could see a tree?" Kengo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on." Kyousuke looked over his shoulder. "You really don't remember? Riki, Rin, how about you?"

"Well, I guess we did use to play here, didn't we?" Riki could vaguely remember them coming to this particular wood at the edge of a park. They had always used to run through the trees, climb them and do all sorts of things. A couple of times, they had even gone camping. The memory of Masato and Kengo getting tangled up in the tent came to mind and he inadvertently smiled.

"Maybe this will jog your memory." Kyousuke stepped aside and pointed at the carved lines in the bark.

Everyone inched forward to take a look. A circle had been etched there and within that circle, they saw their names.

"Oh! Now I remember." Riki's eyes lit up. "We wrote our names on the tree one time, didn't we?"

"That's why?" Rin looked puzzled. "I still don't get it."

"The time capsule," Kyousuke said, seeming exasperated. "Please tell me you remember that."

"Time capsule?" Masato frowned, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess I do remember something like that."

"Ahh. We did make one of those," Riki said. "Wow, I totally forgot all about it." Judging by the looks of realization on Kengo's and Rin's faces, he guessed they had forgotten as well.

"I'm seriously the only one who remembered?" Kyousuke's face fell. "I'm honestly disappointed, you guys."

"It's been over ten years!" Rin's hackles rose. "How are we supposed to remember everything we did back then?! Hmph. Idiot brother."

"Anyway, ten years ago, we made a time capsule and promised that ten years later, we would all return to this very spot together and dig up the time capsule together. Apparently, I'm the only one who was taking it seriously."

"Sorry." Riki rubbed the back of his head. "It's like Rin said though, it's been so long and we did so much together."

"Oh well, it's probably better this way. If we can't even remember what we buried, it will be an even greater experience. Let's get digging." Kyousuke dumped the bag he was carrying and opened it up to reveal some mini shovels. 

Everyone took a shovel and got to work.

"Alright, my muscles are all fired up! I'll dig it up in no time at all!"

"Uwah!" Riki raised his arms to shield himself from flying clods of earth. "Hey, Masato, not so fast."

Rin let out a shriek. "What do you think you're doing, showering us with dirt?!" She delivered a magnificent roundhouse kick to Masato's bulky form.

"Oof... sorry, I'll dig more slowly."

It didn't take long to discover the small chest buried in the ground. Kyousuke carefully extracted it and brushed the dust from its surface. 

"Here it is." Kyousuke stood. "The time capsule."

"Ahh." As Riki looked at the chest, his memory grew clearer. "I remember now. Just what did we put in there though? I don't remember that at all."

"Neither do I," said Rin.

"Well then, this is going to be an exciting experience." Kyousuke grinned. "Quick, let's go find somewhere to sit and discover the contents of the time capsule."

They found an empty table and benches in the park and gathered round.

Kyousuke prepared to open the lid. "Everybody ready?"

"Of course we're ready," Masato replied. "Get on with it already."

"Very well. I hereby present the opening of the Little Busters' Ten Years Gone By Time Capsule! Ta-dah!" Kyousuke flung open the lid with a flourish. "First of all, here we have the newspaper clipping from the day we fought the hornets." 

Kyousuke carefully unfolded the stiff paper and spread it out in the table. Everyone leaned in gaze upon the newspaper. It had turned brown and faded over the years, but the text remained legible and the photo was still clear enough that the details showed.

"I can still remember it as clearly as it happened yesterday." Riki smiled fondly as he recalled the memory of the day he met the Little Busters. That had been the day his life changed and he would never forget it.

"Being set on fire was an experience I'll certainly never forget." Masato sighed with his eyes closed.

"That was an amazing sight for sure." Kengo smiled. "Masato plunging into that swarm of hornets, wreathed in flames and screaming in agony."

"Gyaaaaaaah!" Masato clutched his head. "Don't describe it so vividly!"

"What's in this envelope?" Kyousuke opened it up and took out some scraps of paper. "Oh, I think we wrote down our hopes for the future or something like that, didn't we? Everyone, take a look."

Each scrap of paper had a different name on theirs. Riki picked his up.

"I want to be with everybody forever and ever," Riki said. "I hope we will always be together even in the future. Well, we certainly are still together. How about everyone else?"

"Mine says 'I want to have a million cats'," said Rin. "Is that even possible?"

"It's ten years too late to be asking that, isn't it?" Kyousuke read his piece of paper. "As for mine, it says 'I want the Little Busters to be world famous and hailed as heroes.' Well, uh, that was awfully ambitious."

"My hope was to one day kick Kengo's ass and become the strongest." Masato grinned. "Still working on it."

"I hoped to become the ultimate kendo champion."

"Well, keep on working toward your dreams. I'm not sure about us becoming world famous now so I'll have to give up on that," Kyousuke said.

"So, is it possible to have a million cats?"

"No, no, no," Riki replied hastily. "You wouldn't be able to afford it. Besides, there's no way you could take care of so many."

"I guess you're right. Hm, so how many is too many?" Rin asked.

"You already have too many," Masato replied.

"Nobody asked you, moron!" Rin kicked him.

"Okay, settle down. Let's get back to this." Kyousuke took out five bookmarks. "Oh, it's the four leaf clovers we found that day."

"Ahh. You were the one who found them though," said Riki. "No matter how hard we searched, we couldn't find any ourselves."

"Yeah. That was amazing," said Kengo. "How did you even manage it?"

"Just good luck, I guess," said Kyousuke. "Look, here's the medal we got for that time we chased down and beat up that thief we saw grabbing a lady's handbag."

"He looked really surprised to get beaten up by a bunch of kids," Masato said. "Hah. It sure was fun chasing down bad guys and kicking their asses."

"Yeah, beating up the bad guys felt pretty good," said Riki. "It was always so exciting. Watching Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo in action was pretty thrilling."

Kyousuke continued to take out one thing after another from the box, recalling even more memories of their childhood days. The box was soon empty and the mementos were strewn across the table. The childhood friends gazed at the sight before them without saying anything, thinking back to the days of the past and the fun times they had all spent together.

"We've done so much together, haven't we?" Riki remarked. "I have so many fond memories of the time we spend with each other."

"We always had so much fun." Kyousuke smiled, somewhat wistfully. "Well, we'll be able to make many more happy memories together, won't we?"

"Sure." Masato grinned. "We're gonna be friends for the rest of our lives, right?"

"I have no doubt about that," said Kengo. "The Little Busters will always be together."

"Mmm." Rin nodded.

"Of course." Riki genuinely believed it in his heart. They would spend many more years together, and make new memories with each other. 

"Well then." Kyousuke began placing the items back into the capsule. "I wonder if I should put it back."

"You mean, bury it again?" Riki asked.

"Yeah. Maybe we can dig it up again in another ten years. Come to think of it, we should make a new time capsule, shouldn't we? Why don't we get the girls involved?"

"Oh, that's a good idea," Riki said. "Let's do that next time we're all together."

"It's decided, then." Kyousuke closed the lid. "Someday, we'll make a new Little Busters time capsule."


	16. Desire

"Hey, check this out."

Kyousuke placed an object upon the box around which he, Riki, Rin, Masato and Kengo sat. The others leaned in, staring quizzically at what appeared to be an oil lamp.

"It looks like a genie lamp." Rin sat back, blinking. "But what's so interesting about it?"

"Yeah," said Riki. "It does look pretty cool, I guess. I didn't know you liked collecting trinkets, Kyousuke."

"Hmph." Kyousuke's lips turned up at the corner and he folded his arms, exuding an air of smug satisfaction. "This is no ordinary trinket. Or at least that's what the seller told me."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Masato asked.

"You didn't get scammed, did you?" Kengo frowned.

"Of course not. Well, I hope not." Kyousuke smiled awkwardly. "But the seller said this was a bargain! He told me that this was a magical lamp that could grant your wishes and fulfil your desires. Something like that. And he was selling it for only five thousand yen too."

"Oh, Kyousuke." Riki put a hand to his head. "I thought you were smarter than this."

"You idiot." Rin shook her head, looking disgusted.

"Hey, come on! The guy rubbed it and a puff of smoke came out. He told me a genie was supposed to appear, but he couldn't bring it out because he had already had his wish granted. Anyway, it was cheap. He seemed pretty desperate to get rid of it too. In fact, he was practically pleading with me."

"If he was so desperate to get rid of it, why didn't he just give it to you for free?" asked Masato.

"Um. Good point." Kyousuke rubbed his head. "Anyway, I've bought it now, haven't I? Now why don't we see if this story is actually true?" He rubbed his hand across the side of the lamp and a thick puff of smoke came from the spout.

The puff of smoke rose into the air and took on an almost humanoid shape. "Greetings."

"It's speaking." Rin looked dumbfounded. "The smoke just said something."

"Hmm." Riki frowned. He looked from Kyousuke to Masato to Kengo, but they all looked just as puzzled as Rin. Anyway, he was sure the voice had been coming from the smoke so it wasn't like it could have been one of his friends playing a trick on them.

"I will grant you one wish per person. Please hold the lamp as you make your wish, and I will be happy to grant it."

The smoke went back into the bottle.

"So that was a genie?" Riki raised an eyebrow.

"It just looked like a puff of smoke to me," said Masato. "I would have expected something a bit more impressive."

"So, uh, are we actually going to try making wishes?" asked Kengo.

"Hmm. Why don't you go first?" Kyousuke suggested.

"Me? Um, okay." Kengo took the lamp. He gazed at it thoughtfully for a moment. "Honestly, there's not a lot I'd wish for. Wait, I know!" He raised the lamp into the air. "I wish the other members of the Little Busters could have matching Little Busters jumpers too!"

"Wait, what?" Riki said, looking incredulous. None of them had even expressed a desire to have a matching jumper, so why wish for such a thing? He was startled to find himself suddenly wearing a Little Busters jumper. "Uwah! What is this?!"

"Wah!" Rin shrieked. "Why am I wearing a jumper like Kengo's? It's creepy! I don't want it!" She tugged at the zipper but it wouldn't budge.

"Look what you've done, Kengo!" Masato gestured wildly with a scowl on his face. "Now you've made the rest of us look like idiots too!"

Kengo looked around at them in disbelief. "Huh. It actually worked."

"I don't believe it." Kyousuke's jaw hung down.

"You're the one who bought the lamp!" Riki exclaimed.

"Oh well. Having a matching Little Busters jumper is kind of neat, and, hey, we all have one now." Kyousuke grinned. "Nice wish, Kengo."

"But why do we have to be wearing them?" Masato threw his hands into the air. "I'm taking this off." He pulled at his zipper. "Eh? It's not moving."

"I can't get it off!" Rin was waving her arms around frantically. She attempted to pull the jumper over her head, but her efforts proved useless.

"I guess the zippers are stuck. No big deal, we'll solve the problem later," said Kyousuke. "It's not going to kill you to wear the jumper for a few minutes, is it?"

"Ugh." Rin slumped over, throwing an annoyed look in Kengo's direction.

"Alright, I'll try it next." Kyousuke took the lamp.

"Please be sensible," Riki muttered.

"I wish to have more manga!"

Everyone else let out exasperated sighs. They waited a few seconds, but nothing happened.

"Hm. Maybe the manga went somewhere else," said Kyousuke.

"Good," Riki said in a flat voice. He didn't need a pile of manga suddenly appearing in his room. "For that matter, weren't you way too vague? You didn't even say how much manga you wanted."

"Oh, you're right." Kyousuke looked worried. "Crap. I might have unintentionally spawned a whole library somewhere. But, hey, that just means more manga to read."

"No, no, no." Riki sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Alright, my turn!" Masato took the lamp.

"Wait, don't wish for anything to do with-" Riki started.

"I wish for a muscle revolution!"

"Muscles." Riki hung his head.

"Gosh, Riki. You're being such a buzzkill," Kyousuke said, giving him a disapproving look. "Relax and enjoy the ride."

"I'm pretty sure this is something we're not supposed to be messing with," Riki protested. "I mean, this happened!" He tugged at the zipper of his new jumper. As expected, the zipper didn't move.

"Well, that just leaves Riki and Rin. Who's going next?" asked Kyousuke.

"Ah, Rin can go next." Riki held up his hands, smiling weakly. He honestly had no desire to make a wish on the thing at all.

"Alright then." Rin picked up the lamp and gave it a thoughtful look. "Hmm. Something to do with cats. Oh, I know. I wish I could communicate with cats."

In a flash, Rin disappeared and the lamp fell to the floor. Where Rin had been sitting, there was now a brown cat. Everyone stared at the cat in dumbfounded silence for a few seconds.

"Uh..." Riki's mouth flapped open and shut as he tried to speak. "Um... uh, Rin?"

"Meow?" Rin looked up at them. "Meow, meow... meow?" She looked down at her paws. "Meooooow?!"

"What the hell?" Masato exclaimed. "Why did Rin just become a cat? And why am I getting a violent urge to get up and dance while going 'Muscles yay yay'? Muscles, yay yay!" He got to his feet and began dancing while repeating the phrase. Kengo started doing it as well.

"It's because you wished for a muscle revolution." Riki pressed a hand to his forehead. "Look, this is way more serious! Rin just turned into a cat!"

Rin was meowing very loudly and very shrilly.

"Oh dear. It must be because she wished to communicate with cats." Kyousuke was staring at Rin with his mouth wide open. "I don't think this is quite what she had in mind though. Oh well, let's dance!" He got up as well. "Muscles, yay yay!"

"Ugh." Riki too was feeling the urge to dance along with them but he resisted as much as he could. Come to think of it, what were those voices he could hear in the distance all of a sudden? It sounded like they were shouting about muscles. "Oh no, don't tell me... the muscle revolution? Masato, what have you done?!"

"Muscles, yay yay!" Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo cheered in unison.

"It's hopeless." Riki picked up the lamp.

Just then the ground shook.

"Uwah! What was that?!" Riki ran to the door and opened it. He couldn't believe the sight that greeted his eyes. A pile of manga was filling the hallway, growing in size and approaching him at a rapid rate. "Kyousuke, you idiot!"

"Hah, yes, I am an idiot. Whatever. Come on, Riki, dance with us! Muscles, muscles!"

"Ahh, geez." Riki slammed the door and hurried through the veranda doors. He saw a crowd of people gathering around the school, dancing and chanting the word muscles repeatedly.

"Muscles, yay yay! Muscles, yay yay!"

Even adults, children and people around their age who weren't in uniform were among the crowd. The muscle revolution seemed to have spread beyond even the school itself.

There was something almost hypnotic about the sight.

Riki twitched.

"Muscles, yay yay! Muscles, yay yay!"

Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo had come out of the room now and were standing next to him while they danced. A pitiful mew reached Riki's ears and he looked down to see a brown cat staring up at him with sad eyes.

Oh yeah, Rin was still a cat.

But that didn't seem to matter right now.

Nothing mattered when they had muscles.

"Muscles, yay yay! Muscles, yay yay!" Riki started to dance. He was barely aware of something suddenly clambering up his body. His vision was filled by a mass of brown fur and then he felt something sharp raking over his face.

"Yee-oww!" Riki recoiled. "What the...?" He touched his face and looked down at Rin, who was hissing loudly. "Huh, did you just scratch me?"

Rin meowed.

"Ahh, I nearly turned into an idiot just now, didn't I? Okay, let's fix this. Sorry, Masato, but we can't let this muscle revolution continue."

"Ehh? But muscles are the best! Come on, Riki, embrace the glory of muscles with us!"

"Yeah!" Kyousuke chimed in. "You have no idea what you're missing out on! Muscles, muscles!"

Riki twitched. The muscle revolution was dangerously infectious and he was honestly having to fight the urge to join in at this point. However, he couldn't just ignore this situation. Rin certainly wouldn't allow him to for that matter.

"Well then, there's only one thing to do." Riki raised the lamp. He thought for a moment about how best to phrase his wish, not wanting to make the same mistake as certain others. "Alright then. I wish for the last four wishes to be undone!"

In the next instant, he, Kyousuke and Masato were no longer wearing jumpers. Everyone ceased dancing on the spot and looked around, most of them muttering and blinking in confusion.

"Huh, it's over already?" asked Kyousuke.

"Well, the Muscle Revolution sure didn't last long." Masato sighed. "Ahh, what a pity."

"Huh? Where did your jumpers go?" Kengo looked crestfallen. "And I didn't even have to make them from scratch."

"Sorry, Kengo, but things were getting just a bit too crazy." Riki looked aside, expecting to see Rin. "Huh, where's..." His gaze dropped to where Rin was on the ground, crouching on the ground and examining her hands. "Ah..."

"I'm normal again," Rin said.

Riki hurriedly tore off his jacket and threw it over Rin's body. "Rin, get back inside!"

"Huh? What..." Then Rin realised. She screamed and tore back inside like a rocket, slamming the door behind her.

Riki laughed awkwardly and turned around to see the other boys staring at him. "Uh. It wasn't my fault." He lowered his gaze, feeling sheepish.

The crowd of people was gradually thinning until the childhood friends were the only ones standing around outside. Riki knocked on the door.

"Is it okay to come back in yet?" he called out.

"Yeah, whatever," Rin called back in a sulky sounding voice.

"Oh, dear. Sounds like she's in a bad mood," said Kyousuke.

Everyone entered the room and found Rin sitting on the bed, fully dressed. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was looking away with an indignant expression.

"Uh, Rin?" Riki tentatively approached her. "Are you mad at me?"

"Hmph." That was all Rin had to say on the subject.

"Well, that was an exciting evening, wasn't it?" Kyousuke grinned. "I guess it did get a bit crazy though. Good thing we had Riki around."

"Man, it was so cool, having people celebrate muscles with us," said Masato. "One day, I hope the Muscle Revolution can happen for real."

"Why couldn't we have kept the jumpers?"

"So, Rin, did you at least enjoy the experience of being a cat?" Kyousuke asked.

"Like hell I did!" Rin exclaimed. "I didn't want to actually be a cat! I just wanted to know what cats were saying. Stupid lamp."

"Ah, speaking of the lamp." Riki looked at the lamp he was still holding onto. "I wonder what we should do with it?"

"Smash it into pieces."

"Ehh, but it cost 5,000 yen."

"Then don't waste your money on dumb crap, stupid brother!"

"Seriously, it's too dangerous," Riki said. "We should put it somewhere nobody will ever find it."

"I guess you're right." Kyousuke let out a sigh of resignation. "Still, at least we had fun, right?"

"What was fun about that?" Rin muttered, shaking her head.

"Yeah, it was fun alright." Masato crossed his arms and grinned. "I'll work hard to make the Muscle Revolution happen someday in the future."

"I'll be sure to make more Little Busters jumpers so that everybody can have one."

"And I'll become a salaryman and buy more manga with the money I make!"

Kyousuke, Kengo and Masato raised their hands into the air, letting out cheers.

"Idiots." Rin let out a disgusted sigh.

"Yeah." Riki exhaled in exasperation, gazing at the trio with a weary smile.


End file.
